


Serendipity

by OriginPilot



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: (it kinda is though), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I promise this fic is not just an excuse to write horny blood sucking scenes, I try to keep everyone as in character as possible but Claude has turned into a hopeless shitposter, Rating will definitely change, mostly fluff with a dash of angst here and there, vampire!Mariane, yes this is another marihilda vampire au fight me about it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:00:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24153958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OriginPilot/pseuds/OriginPilot
Summary: Serendipity: finding something good without looking for it.After accidentally stumbling upon the identity of a certain someone, Hilda Goneril finds her carefree world being turned completely on its head.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	Serendipity

“So, let me get this straight,” The university correctional officer flipped through the report given to him earlier that morning.

“You three snuck into the university biology lab at eleven pm last night - and then proceeded to disable a combination lock on the storage room door to steal the school’s gopher tortoise out of it’s cage-“

“His name’s actually Leonardo.” Claude, oh-so-helpfully, cut in.

The correctional officer looked at him with squinted eyes, causing the normally fatuous boy to shrink back into his chair.

“Right, you stole _Leonardo_ \- property of this establishment, might I add – and then took him for a ‘midnight joyride’ on the school’s camping ground in a golf cart that is _also_ school property.”

Hilda huffed annoyedly beside Claude and crossed her legs, focusing more on fixing a hangnail on her finger than listening to the officer.

“We might’ve also taken some of those little raspberry candies professor Manuela keeps on her desk.”

Dimitri, who sat on the other side of Claude, swiftly elbowed him in the ribs.

“Ow-! What!?” He exclaimed, rubbing his side. “She gives them out for free anyways! I was just saying, geez…”

Sitting at her desk across from the three students and beside the correctional officer, sat school’s president. She listened to the three, while rubbing her temples as though she had a headache. “Let’s see,” She began, tiredly. “Multiple accounts of theft, breaking and entering, _lying_ to a correctional officer-“

“In our defense, President Rhea, we _were_ planning on returning everything, and we never lied to anyone!” Dimitri quickly stated, waving his hands in front of him.

“And that makes this situation better how? That turtle is mortified and there are skid marks all over the campgrounds, you know?”

“Tortoise…” Hilda heard Claude mutter, correcting the school’s president under his breath.

Dimitri just hung his head, looking remorseful. “We’re terribly sorry, ma’am.”

“As you should be. You do realize I could have the police called for something like this don’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am…”

The officer beside Rhea flipped through some more of his papers and walked behind the president’s desk, whispering something in her ear.

Hilda sighed and leaned her head back on the uncomfortable office chair. She was bored by the conversation at this point, but mostly upset that she got called out of her first lecture earlier today. She was planning on getting a good two extra hours of sleep in that class, as she had stayed up late on her phone the night prior.

Hilda turned her head to the side, looking out the foggy, slightly yellowed, window on the office door. While zoning out, she noticed a tall, blue haired girl shuffling by, cradling a set of books in her arms.

Not thinking much of it, she tapped her boot on the floor and covered a yawn with her hand, attempting to hone back in on what the president was saying.

“I must say, this little stunt isn’t _that_ unexpected from you Mister Riegan. We have multiple other reports listed on an incidents sheet for you.” The president said, flipping through a file laid out on her desk. “Covering a professor’s desk with sticky notes, throwing toilet paper all over the large oak tree in the square during homecoming, attempting to barricade the doors in one of the music rooms with stacks of chairs, drawing phallic symbols on some of the desks in the library?”

The president looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay the sticky notes were a joke – and the professor even thought it was funny! I digress for my other offenses, but the dick drawings were never proven to be me!”

Hilda rolled her eyes. “Dipshit, you do know cameras exist, right?”

“Woah, wait, people actually watch those? I always just thought they were there for show…” Claude blinked, looking slightly stunned.

Dimitri shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “What University would spend thousands of dollars on infrastructure they wouldn’t use?”

“Hey, I’ve watched Spy Kids, the dude that’s supposed to be watching the cameras is _always_ asleep.”

“How on earth is some dumb children’s movie relevant to this?” Hilda groaned, wishing she could be literally anywhere else, taking a nap or scrolling through her phone.

“It’s a top-notch piece of film! Dimitri and I binged it over the summer.”

Dimitri heavily exhaled and covered his face with his hands. “Claude, now is not the time.”

“Hey, don’t hate. You said you liked it!” Claude put a hand to his chin in thought. “I mean, the main kid has those hammer hand gauntlet things, who would ever need to pay attention to who’s watching you when you can smash them out of existence at any time?”

“I would like to be smashed out of existence right about now.” Hilda deadpanned.

“Oh, kinky.”

Claude and Hilda looked at each other and, despite herself, Hilda snickered along with him.

The correctional officer loudly cleared his throat and the three students snapped their eyes back to the officials in front of them.

President Rhea heavily sighed and waved a hand at the correctional officer. “I will decide their punishment from here, thank you for your time.”

“I’ll email the full report to the vice-chancellor later this evening.” He nodded at her and made his exit, shutting the door behind him with a loud _clink_.

Rhea looked back at the students and spread out her hands, placing them on the desk in front of her. “Here at Garreg Mach, I want you all to know we do expect _much_ better behavior from our students. Our image is not something to be toyed with, we’re a respectable school with equally respectable students.”

The three friends all shifted uncomfortably in their seats, not sure where this was going.

“That being said, Miss Goneril and Mister Blaiddyd, I haven’t as much of any previous incidents from the two of you, aside from some… lack-luster class attendance reports for you, Miss Goneril.” The president typed a few words on her keyboard and looked to her computer monitor off to the side. “Mister Blaiddyd, you are here on a scholarship, yes?”

All eyes turned to Dimitri and Hilda watched his eyes widen in surprise. “Y-Yes, ma’am.”

She nodded and said nothing more.

Hilda couldn’t remember the last time she saw Dimitri so distraught and she also noticed the implications of the president’s words were not lost on Claude either, who looked very concerned for his partner.

“You are aware of the actions I could take for an offence like this, yes?” The three students nodded, guilty. “However, you all seem like alright kids and promising students at that, I will admit.”

The president folded her hands together and waited a few moments, like she was debating something in her head.

“I will be letting you off easy this time. With regard to your punishments, you will spend the weekend restoring the campground and you will apologize to the transportation department for violating their property, along with the Biology department for… _handling_ their turtle.”

“ _Tortoise…_ ” Claude once again muttered under his breath.

“Oh, okay, that’s not too bad, we can totally do that!” Dimitri quickly agreed.

“And,” She continued, causing the three to shrink against their seats even further. “Von Riegan, you will be volunteering your time to help the biology department with labs and other activities for the remainder of the semester.”

“Ma’am, with all due respect, I’m a busy man. What kind of - “

Without waiting for him to finish, the president pointed to Dimitri. “Blaiddyd, you will be coming to my office every other Friday for the rest of the semester, to help me with some assigned tasks and paperwork. I will see about retaining your scholarship position, though I make no promises.”

Dimitri visibly deflated, but nodded his understanding, nonetheless.

“As for you Miss Goneril…” She tapped a finger to her chin and closed her eyes. “Nothing comes to mind at the moment, but I’m sure - “

There was a small knock at the door, interrupting the President’s line of thought.

“Ah, come in.” She called.

The door slowly creaked open and the same tall girl with blue hair that Hilda saw passing through the hall earlier shuffled inside the small office.

“I, um… oh.” The girl noticed the three sitting other students sitting in the room and clamped the folders in her hand tightly to her chest. Hilda wasn’t paying much attention but noticed the heavy eyebags under the girl’s eyes and wondered to herself how little sleep someone must get to look that tired.

“What is it, Marianne?” The president spoke to her in an equally soft voice.

Looking down and avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room, the girl quickly strode over to the President and handed her some papers. They mumbled a few words back and forth and the girl walked right back out the door as quickly as she had come in.

“Well, it seems to be your lucky day, Goneril.” The president chuckled, looking through the papers that had just been given to her.

Hilda tilted her head, which had been resting tiredly in her hand that’s being propped up on her crossed legs. She had been unconsciously twirling a strand of her fluffy pink around her finger.

“The school’s stable is in need of some more volunteers, and I think I know just the lucky girl for the job.”

“Pfft – “ Claude smothered a chortle behind his hand.

“T-The _stables?_ ” Hilda echoed, incredulously. “Like where they keep horses and haybales and all of that gross mucky glop stuff they eat?”

The president laughed. “Yes, those are all things a stable normally has. I will expect you to visit a few times a week to assist in feeding them and whatever other attention they acquire. I will email one of the equestrian professors and see if we can have someone show you the ropes, so keep an eye on your inbox for further information, please.”

Hilda fumbled for words. “Ma’am, I-I don’t think - “

“Your punishments are clear, if you don’t agree with them, I can happily call Garreg Mach’s chief deputy and you can explain to him what happened last night, if you so wish?”

Hilda bit her tongue to keep from groaning, and the friends beside her stayed silent as well.

“Glad this is settled.” The smug president smiled and turned back to her computer monitor. “You are dismissed.”

* * *

Hilda stretched her arms above her head as they walked down the hallways and out of the school’s academic offices.

“Oh, it feels good to breathe again.” She sighed, glad to be out of the stuffy office.

“I can’t believe you dragged me into that!” Dimitri tapped his pointer finger to the side of Claude’s head.

“Ahhn~ babe! A little gentler, please!” Claude let out a fake moan and recoiled from his partner.

“Oh, here we go.” Hilda quipped. 

Dimitri let out a heavy sigh and held a hand to his nose. “What on earth were you even thinking.”

Hilda snorted, skipping along beside them. “Claude? Thinking? I’m pretty sure you’ve got the wrong guy.”

“Hey, speak for yourself!” Claude pointed an incriminating finger at her. “Don’t act like I dragged you two into this! We all thought it would be fun!”

“Fun!? I don’t know what your idea of fun is, but mine certainly is not spending my Monday morning getting escorted out of physics by two armed officers!”

“Ew, physics?” Hilda grimaced and began fixing one of her ponytails. “Sounds more like he did you a favor.”

“And you even brought Hilda into it! Unbelievable.”

“What can I say?” Claude sighed and placed an arm around Hilda’s shoulders. “We’re true partners in crime, allies in atrocity, collaborators in chaos-!“

“Claude said he would buy me lunch today if I went with.” Hilda shrugged.

“I am nothing if not a man of my word.” Claude humbly stated, fishing a hand in his pockets and handing her a twenty.

The three friends walked past plenty of students milling about, along with professors holding printouts or papers. The campus was normally crowded on school days, making it a slow walk as they made their way past the dining hall, to a small covered area near the library.

There’s a variety of familiar vending machines along the shaded brick wall that the three friends stopped at.

“What I can’t believe is that I have goddamn stable duty - _stable duty!_ ” Hilda repeated it as though it was the most absurd thing she’d ever heard.

Claude _tsked_ at her and took out some change, making his selection of flavored water in one of the machines.

“You say that like you’re not already plotting out who you’re going to get to do it for you.”

Dimitri put enough change into one of the other machines for a water bottle and a strawberry flavored juice for Hilda, as was known by the trio to be her favorite flavor since middle school.

“There _is_ this guy in my economics class who I’m pretty sure has a thing for me, I could probably get him to do it.” She pondered, kicking her legs out in front of her as she sat on a nearby picnic table.

Instead of opening her drink, Hilda held it to her neck and fanned herself with her other hand, letting out a refreshing sigh at the coldness of the bottle.

Claude nodded his head, approvingly. “Damn, I mean, might as well work the moves if you got ‘em. I don’t see nothing wrong with the hustle.”

“Hilda, don’t you think you’re a bit old to be pushing your work onto others all the time?” Dimitri sighed as he took seat next to her. “Well-known trait of yours as it may be, it’s getting quite tiresome.”

“Hey, I never _ask_ anyone to do my work. Why ask when they’ll offer to do it anyways.” Hilda smirked, smugly. “A poor, helpless maiden like me isn’t cut out for all of that work-intensive stable duty, y’know.”

Claude snorted and took a sip of his flavored water. “Helpless maiden, eh? I once watched you drop-kick a dude who was trying to peak under your skirt.”

Hilda just grunted and kicked her legs out in front of her, tapping the tips of her boots together. “He deserved it.”

“As much credulity as I have towards your methods, Hilda,” Dimitri inquired. “I feel like maybe this is something you should keep your word on? I feel awful as is about all the trouble we’ve caused.”

Claude joined them at the bench and climbed on top of the table to sit behind Dimitri, casually outstretching his legs on either side of him.

“Don’t worry about it too much, babe. The president has a small stick up her ass is all. We were just having some fun – and if she takes away your scholarship, I will unleash a heard of angry roosters into the academics building.”

Hilda gave her long-time friend a look.

“What? I know a guy.”

“The scary part is I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.” Dimitri rubbed his temple.

Claude shrugged and took a long sip of his water, turning his attention to Hilda. “And at least you don’t have to spend time with those stinky old biology bastards! Not a single one of them is under like sixty years old!”

“Don’t you have class soon, Claude?” Dimitri looked up to question him.

“That’s aside the point. The point is if I have to touch a dead animal for a dissection lab, I’m gonna vomit – and then I’ll vomit again from seeing my own vomit.”

“Can we change the subject from vomit, please.” Dimitri grimaced.

“Here.” Claude took out his phone. “Let’s send a snapchat to the Leone and all them that missed out on the fun yesterday.”

Claude held his camera out and Hilda instinctively leaned in and stuck out her tongue. Dimitri made a deadpan expression that the other two snickered at, much to the rigid boy’s distaste.

“Oh, this is gold, not story material gold, but definitely filter worthy.”

Hilda took out her phone as well and the friends aimlessly chattered with each other for a small while, their attention all half-occupied with their phones.

“Woah, look how many likes our joyride photo got on Instagram!” Claude excitedly exclaimed, proudly holding his phone down for the others to see.

Hilda looked at the photo carefully, although she had already seen it the previous night, when it was posted.

Claude was angling the camera to the side, holding out a peace sign. Hilda matched his peace sign in the background as she sat on the seat of the golf cart, one of her legs set up on the dashboard. Dimitri can be seen in the back wresting the three-foot long tortoise into the back seat of the golf cart.

Dimitri groaned, while Hilda clicked her tongue in satisfaction.

“I look hot in that. Text it to me later?” Hilda inquired.

“Aye aye, Captain.” Claude nudged Hilda in the shoulder with his knee. “Gonna use it to lure some sexy sailor into your dm’s, hmm?”

Hilda scoffed and set her phone back down on the picnic table. “The boys at this school are too… easy. When you have every simpleton in a five-mile radius throwing themselves at you, it honestly gets boring after a while.”

Claude snorts. “Geez, arrogant much?”

“What about the girls?” Dimitri questioned her.

“Hilda, we know you’re a bi-disaster.” Claude put a gentle hand on her shoulder and gave her a solemn look. “You don’t need to hide who you truly are from your besties.”

Hilda swatted away Claude’s hand. “Cut it out, dumbass. I honestly just forget about liking girls sometimes - and then it’s like - _bam!_ A sexy librarian comes up behind me to tell me I’ve been on the computer for too long and I forget how to breathe.”

“It do be like that.” Claude nodded his head, pensively.

Dimitri fiddled with the bottle cap on his, now empty, water. “I am regretfully inclined to agree with that statement.” Is all he offered.

Hilda chuckled and picked up her phone to check the time, finding her smile immediately turning into a frown. “Ugh, I need to go to economics. If I skip another lecture I’m getting ten points taken off my final grade.”

“And here I was thinking you would wait until it was twenty points.” Claude held an offended hand to his chest. “Just say you don’t love our company.”

“Oh, haha.” Hilda rolled her eyes, ruffling Dimitri’s hair as she walks past them. “Text me later about lunch.”

“Don’t forget we have to clean the campground this weekend!” Claude called out after her.

Hilda internally groaned but pretended to not hear him.

* * *

Tired and in desperate need of some quiet, Hilda trudged up the steps of her house and slammed the door quite noisily behind her.

She let out a deep breath and leaned against the back of her front door, tossing her keys in the bowl they kept at the entryway.

A familiar head of pink hair poked his head out from the kitchen with a smirk.

“Oh, well if it isn’t my beloved little sister! How was class today?”

“Shut it, Holst. I’m not in the mood.” Hilda huffed, sliding past her annoyance of a brother and into the kitchen.

Hilda made somewhat of a scene as she flung open the pantry doors in her kitchen and swiped a half-eaten bag of marshmallows off one of the shelves.

“You won’t believe what happened to me today!” She exclaimed, taking a marshmallow out of the bag and angrily taking a bite of it.

“Does it have anything to do with that picture I saw on Claude’s Instagram last night?”

Her brother sneakily slid behind Hilda and swiped a marshmallow from the open bag on the counter.

“Hey!” Hilda attempted to glare at him, snatching the bag out of his reach, but ended up rolling her eyes and leaning her elbows onto the kitchen counter. “And yes! That idiot wouldn’t know the word subtlety if it bit him in the ass and then knocked him upside his stupid head.”

“How did you even manage to get that grumpy old turtle all the way out to the campgrounds without anyone knowing?”

“Tortoise.” Hilda corrected him.

Her brother nodded, solemnly.

“And it’s harder than you’d think! We actually had to use a lunchbox- wait, this is beside the point.”

Holst reached into a fruit bowl at the center of their kitchen’s island and snatched an apple out, taking a loud chunk of it.

“You get called to the Dean’s office or something?” He questioned, eyebrows raised.

“Worse. The president - aka academic officer - aka the most powerful woman at the university with a vendetta against me now.”

“Yikes.”

“I know.” Hilda shook her head and groaned into her hands. “I should’ve never gone with that idiot. He told me it would be fine because Garreg Mach isn’t known for having the _best_ security or anything, of course we’d get caught by those track snitches. Who goes for jogs at 5am anyways? And of course I got freaking stable duty-“

Her brother all but choked on his apple, having to hold a hand to his chest to keep from spitting it back out.

“The stables?” He heaved out between cackles.

Hilda threw a marshmallow at his head.

“Stop laughing! Yes, the freaking stables! And the worst part is the kid in my economy doesn’t want to do it because he’s allergic to horsehair! Who the fuck is allergic to horsehair?”

Holst started laughing louder and Hilda dropped her head onto the table.

“This sucks. Horses are dangerous animals, you know? And your poor sister is probably going to have to carry around those heavy hay pile things-“

“I’m not doing stable duty for you.” Holst said, regaining his composure.

Hilda lifted her head and pouted at him.

Holst held his hands up and walked towards the trashcan to throw away his apple core. “As much as I’d love to help you out, I graduated from Uni a year ago, my uniform doesn’t even fit me anymore and it’s not like I can exactly go back to a school I’m not enrolled in.”

“Yeah, but-“

“Dad’s _also_ got me working the day shift with him for the next month or so. Business is doing really well, and he wants to keep up the pace by getting as much help as he can.”

“Isn’t it always doing well, though.” Hilda mumbled, squishing a marshmallow absentmindedly in her hand.

“Yes, but you should try doing things on your own sometimes, Hilda. It builds character and all that jazz.”

“If by _build character_ you mean _waste my time_ then you’d be right on the money.” Hilda mimicked, using air quotes.

Holst _tsks_ and set a leather bag up on the end of the counter, shuffling some papers together and stuffing them in the much-to-small pouch.

“You’ll never get the ladies all over you with an attitude like that.” He shook his head. “Try being more charismatic, overflowing with charm, someone dashing - like your big brother.”

“Gross. They’d probably run away if they knew we were related.”

“You wound me.”

Holst wiped a pretend tear from his eye as he zipped up his bag and heaved the strap over his shoulder. 

“Anyhow, dad asked me to drop off some stuff at the office. He left money on the coffee table in the living room if you want dinner.”

“Okay, drive safely.” Hilda nodded, closing up the bag of marshmallows.

Holst’s hand paused on the door handle and he sucked in a breath of air. “Oh, my adorable little sister is concerned for my safety? I will treasure this moment forever.”

“Don’t make it weird.” She grunted, waving to him as he laughed and closed the door behind him.

Hilda let out a breath and descended up the stairs to her room, nestled towards the very back end of the hallway. Only Hilda and her brother’s room are upstairs, along with a bathroom and a few other spare rooms, while her father’s is on the first floor of their generously spacious home.

She all but threw herself onto her bed and immediately untucked the stuffy uniform scarf from around her neck, tossing it off to places unknown.

Her room is averagely sized, with her bed sitting in the far-right corner and a window right next to it with frilly pink drapes, where Hilda keeps a small collection of succulents on the bottom ledge. The least amount work required for the plant the better, not that she would admit her luck at keeping the little bastards alive so far is less than lackluster.

Reaching towards her nightstand, Hilda picked up her laptop and opened it up on her lap. She first put on some music and browsed some different clothing websites as she let herself relax into her mountain of pillows and comfy sheets.

Hilda breathed in slowly and exhaled with just as little vigor. She liked things simple. She liked things quiet, not that she disliked being with people or anything, it just wore her out after a while.

Getting to come home and turn off her brain by making some crafts or spending ridiculous amounts of time online doing shopping or scrolling through her phone is the type of getaway Hilda needed in her life.

Only after getting bored an undetermined amount of time later, does Hilda decide she should check her online classes and school email.

Apparently, Rhea is not one to joke about getting in touch because, of course, there were already two new emails in her inbox from the unrelenting president.

Hilda read through the emails and groaned, noting that someone is going to be at the stables this coming Friday to show her the ropes.

She can only hope this semester goes by as fast as possible.

* * *

“I’m not sure about this, Hilda…”

“Don’t worry, Caspar, it’ll be fine! I’m only a phone call away if you need me~”

Hilda chirped in delight as she pushed Caspar, her very underwhelming economics partner, toward the long path leading up to the stables.

“But my mom told me this wasn’t a very good idea…” He scratched the back of his head, looking worried.

“You’ll do great! I bet they won’t even have you messing with those dirty old horses. It’s probably a bunch of manual labor stuff, I’m not really cut out for it, but I’m sure it’s nothing a strong guy like you can’t handle!”

Hilda gave him a sly grin, causing Caspar to laugh and set his hands on his hips.

“Well I suppose you got me there.”

Hilda gave another sweet smile and held her arms behind her back as she bounced cutely on the back of her boots.

_Honestly, it doesn’t get much easier than this._

“Text me when you’re done and maybe we can get dinner later, m’kay? I heard there’s a new sushi place not too far down the road.”

Caspar looked excited and held out his fist in a victory stance. “Ah, hell yeah! Manual labor _and_ a meal. What could be better!”

Hilda giggled along and waved goodbye to him as she headed the opposite direction.

After walking past a few school buildings, so she was confidently out of viewing distance from the dusty old path up to the stables, Hilda let out a breath of air and dropped her hands back to her sides.

It can be exhausting getting what you want sometimes, but it’s still worlds better than spending her afternoon in some stinky old barn.

_I will admit I respect the boy’s drive…_

Hilda couldn’t say she was surprised by Caspar’s eager nature of wanting to get things done, nevertheless she definitely couldn’t say the same for herself.

The question now was how she kills enough time on campus until nightfall. She was pretty sure the sushi place she mentioned closes pretty late, so she wasn’t worried about how late is will be when he finishes, just how she’ll spend her time until he does.

A warm breeze blew by, causing Hilda to sigh and question her choice of wearing a long-sleeved cardigan over her uniform. It was perfect napping weather, but sadly even Hilda had work to do sometimes, and a thousand-word essay doesn’t just write itself.

Hilda changed her direction and made her way to Garreg Mach’s reasonably old and run-down library. Although, for as decrepit looking as it seemed on the outside, the inside was rather big and newly renovated, looking about as glamorous as the average universities tasteful carpet patterns and squeaky rolling chairs.

She passed by plenty of milling students and picked a spot by an open window on the first floor that wasn’t too crowded.

She would rather go to a quieter floor with less light but knowing herself she’ll most likely fall asleep within minutes if she sat somewhere less active.

Slipping off her backpack, Hilda took out her laptop and began researching for her paper. Although, it’s mostly an opinion piece on an article her teacher wanted her to read, she found that she has trouble coming up with topics for the subject.

After about an hour or so and many articles later, Hilda found herself about halfway done with her paper.

Taking a moment to relax, Hilda slipped off her cardigan and draped it over the back of her chair as she leaned back to stretch.

She lifted her arms above her head, feeling another breeze from the open window tickle the tips of her ears and ruffle her hair.

There’s a view of the soccer field from where Hilda sat, and she watched as some kids wearing jerseys kick a ball around and make animated gestures at each other. She could hear their indistinct yelling and laughing in the distance along with some mumbling from a student who was on his phone near the building.

Hilda tapped her finger on the table, absentmindedly. She reached into her pocket and whisked out her phone, seeing a few notifications from social medias and the like but no new messages from Caspar.

Pushing her laptop to the side and resting her head in her arms, Hilda decided a short nap won’t hurt.

* * *

The soft chime of the school bell in the distance is eventually what woke Hilda out of her sleepy stupor.

“Mmm…” Hilda quietly keened as she lifted her head from her arms, momentarily confused about her surroundings.

She quickly blinked and sat up, noticing how much lower the sun is and how little students now occupy the library.

“Ah, shit.”

Hilda felt a weight being shifted on her back as she scooted her chair back.

Turning around, she noticed her cardigan had been draped across her shoulders and, upon doing a double take, the window beside her had been shut and locked firmly with the latch.

Hilda didn’t have time to even question anything as she looked at her phone to see how late it’s gotten.

“Great, I almost slept until god damn sunset.” Hilda groaned at herself and quickly packed up her things.

She slipped her cardigan back on as she briskly walked out of the library and toward the stables, taking a few wrong turns along the way because of how hard the pathway is to spot. She barely managed to find it the first time.

Not having received a message from Caspar, she decided to text him herself, letting him know that she was coming to check on him.

Eventually, Hilda found the somewhat overgrown and unkempt path leading up to the stables and began making her way down it.

The sun was still casting a generous amount of light through the trees, so it was easy to avoid all the tree branches and rocks littering the path. However, Hilda still grumbled all the same as she descended further down the trail.

She reached the antiquated looking stable, complete with a dark red paintjob and various worn tools littered about.

As Hilda neared it, she became more surprised that the building was still standing with how many chips and cracks ran along the wooden walls.

The extremity of the old structure made Hilda wary to near it, though the stable itself was fairly small. A lot of the land around it was cleared, including a fenced in dirt clearing across the path.

She stepped around some piles of hay and grabbed one of the big metal handles on the barn-style doors.

Pulling it open, she heard rustling inside and peaked her head into the small building.

“Hey, hey~ Sorry, I’m late… Just checking in.”

She didn’t hear a response at first, so she cautiously stepped inside, the hay on the floor making a crunching noise under her boot. The building looked empty apart from the four horse stalls, two of which were occupied by said horses.

“Glad you’re here!”

“Bah!?”

Hilda jumped and whipped her head to the side, seeing a figure holding a huge pile of hay that covers their entire upper body.

A curious head of blonde hair poked out from behind it and the girl raised an eyebrow at Hilda.

“You’re Hilda, right? I could use some help cleaning up.” She gave her a curt smile and motioned for Hilda to move to the side.

Hilda apologized and stepped further into the building, attempting to get out of the girl’s way.

The girl walked around her and plopped the pile of hay by one of the stalls with a hefty thud. She wiped her hands off on her uniform and fixed her braided ponytail.

“I’m Ingrid. I’m guessing you’re looking for Caspar.”

“Uh, yeah.” Hilda scuffed a boot on the hay covered ground, feeling a bit awkward. “Did you guys, uh, finish up already?”

Ingrid hummed and lifts a hand to fed some of the hay she just brought over to one of the horses. “For the most part. Caspar was breaking out in hives, so he had to go early. I could use some help cleaning up though.”

Hilda furrowed her eyebrows and grabs her phone out of her pocket to check it. She had forgotten she’d silenced her phone when she was at the library, causing her to miss the message he sent while she was on her way up here.

She internally groaned and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

“Ahaha… well, I’d really _love_ to help out, you see, but I’m actually allergic to horses as well, so - “

“We’re just cleaning up. You won’t have to touch the horses, so don’t worry.” Ingrid laughed to herself and turned to Hilda with a raised eyebrow. “And even if you’re being truthful right now, Caspar has told me your predicament. I will have mercy on you if I can just have less than an hour of your time to pick some things up.”

Hilda scowled and crossed her arms. “Hmph. I mean, I can help out a little, I guess…”

“I am in direct contact with President Rhea, I’ll have you know.”

“Where do I start, boss.” Hilda begrudgingly yielded.

“There’s the tone I’m looking for.” Ingrid smirked and pointed to some dusty boxes by the door. “Pick those up and follow me if you will.”

She finished feeding the last of a handful of hay to the horse and moved to the other end of the stable to grab some tools that Hilda assumes were left out.

Hilda shuffled her way over to the boxes and eyed them with disdain.

“I just got my nails done.” She said, turning to Ingrid.

“Poor thing. I think you’ll live.” Ingrid looked over to see the expression Hilda was giving her and sighed. “Just grab what you can, we’re only moving it out to the shed. We can take multiple trips if we need to.”

Hilda bent down and grabbed one of the boxes, finding herself using most of her strength to lift it into a solid grip.

“Agh! What’s even in here? Rocks?”

“Apples, actually.” Ingrid corrected her, using her leg to slide open the barn door on the other end. “Come on.”

Hilda huffed some bangs out of her eyes and shuffled her way past Ingrid out the back set of doors.

Ingrid resituated some of the tools she was holding in her hands and made her way towards a smaller building around the back. The shed couldn’t have been bigger than the barn, but it wasn’t much smaller either.

“This place is pretty well hidden.” Hilda noted, as they made their way down the short path.

“Yep, not many people come out here or even really know this place exists, it was built before the school was here, you know.” Ingrid stated, her boots crunching on some dead leaves that littered the ground. “It’s why I sent a request for more volunteers. There’s no program for horse riding or anything. If it weren’t for a good handful of dedicated students, this place wouldn’t still be standing.”

As Ingrid explained, Hilda felt a bit guilty for pushing off her stable duty onto some other student. She wondered how long they must have needed people to help out. Surely if they put a few fliers around or made a club or something more people would reach out to them, Hilda pondered.

“Only two horses, though?”

Ingrid laughed and shook her head. “Three, actually. One is in the fields grazing right now.”

“Oh. You can just… let them do that?”

“He’s one of our best behaved horses, trust me. A real sweetie too.” Ingrid paused and looked up. “Ah, here we are!”

They reached the shed and Ingrid set the tools she was carrying by the door, which looks even more decrepit than the stable itself.

Hilda sensed an unnerving feeling as she looked through the window by the door, or rather, at it, seeing as it was too grimy to see through.

Ingrid yanked the door open and picked the tools back up, stepping inside and motioning for Hilda to do the same. She flicked on a light switch and a few of the bare bulbs lining the ceiling came to life, not nearly enough light to fill the space, however.

It’s a standard storage shed, mostly filled with clutter-like objects Hilda would expect to see in a shed, along with some old looking desks and furniture. Everything was appropriately fitted out with a thick sheen of dust and various plastic wrapping. 

“The school used to use this storage shed to preserve older furniture models, back when some of the school was getting remodeled.” Ingrid explained, noticing Hilda looking around.

Hilda set the heavy box of apples on a stack of crates by the door and walked up to an old couch on the far side of the room, covered in holes and questionable stains.

“Doesn’t seem like it did a very good job preserving anything.” Hilda examined.

“Well, yeah. That’s kinda why it’s all still here. Makes a good place to store some spare equipment though!”

The two of them made a few more trips too and from the stable and shed.

Hilda got bored pretty quickly with all of the horse and school talk that Ingrid seemed happy to chat away about.

She hates to admit it, but she actually felt relieved when Ingrid brought up the idea that she could go out and fill the horses water pales by the field, while she finished tidying up a bit in the horse’s stalls.

It had been well past an hour at this point and the sun dipped low in the sky. If Hilda had known she would have been spending her late afternoon sweating her ass off and doing some annoying clean up at a stable, she would have worn something other than her uniform.

Of course, she had modified the skirt to be slightly shorter and her small neck scarf to be a bit frillier, but the scarf has since long been discarded somewhere in the stable, along with any sense of dignity she felt. Especially with how many times Ingrid must have seen her underwear with the amount of times she’s slipped and fallen on her ass because of the poorly swept floor.

“Crap. The shed’s already locked but I forgot to put away the rake by the door. Would you mind grabbing it for me on your way back in? I’m just going to be finishing up sweeping in the stalls.” Ingrid asked, just before Hilda went out to fill the water buckets.

“Sure, do you want an ice coffee while I’m at it? And since I’m out, I might as well get some new lumber so we can build a whole new shitty barn.”

“Stable – and watch the sass. It’s the last thing, I promise. Then you’re home free.”

Hilda just huffed and trudged her way over to the fields on the opposite side of the stable.

Her arms were killing her. If this was the cleanup, she’s sure glad she missed out on all the labor Caspar was doing.

She found an old spicket near the large metal tubs that line the old fence around the grazing area. Using much more force than she originally thought she’d have to use, she turned the knob on the spicket until water started pouring out. She quickly moved and held the small hose attached to it over one of the large tubs, before it had the chance to splatter up mud on her uniform.

Once water starts pouring out of the hose, she stood there watching the tub fill up, slowly. Her reflection became clearer the more water that poured into the large pale and she closed her eyes as a nice breeze blew by.

_Maybe this isn’t so bad…_

Hilda heard a steady clomping sound and opened her eyes, noticing a large grey-brown horse come trotting over from behind the tree-line.

It trotted over to her and whinnied quite loudly, making Hilda cringe and hold the hose back a bit.

“Ow? Can I help you?”

The horse, of course, didn’t respond and instead bent it’s head over the fence to drink out of the tub Hilda was filling up. She sighed and moved the hose to the empty tub beside it.

With it’s head in the water bucket, the horse whinnied again, causing water to splash Hilda’s direction.

“Hey! Was that really necessary!?”

The horse took a few more gulps and stepped back a bit, shaking it’s head vigorously in excitement.

Hilda put a hand on her hip and _tsked_ , watching the new tub fill with water.

“ _Cleanup_ , she says. _A few chores_ , she says. Unbelievable…” Hilda noticed the horses is now staring at her and she sighed. “You agree with me, right?”

The horse continued to linger as Hilda finished filling up the tubs and finally, after about ten minutes, she was able to turn the spicket off and walk back.

The horse whinnied after her and clomped it’s hooves into the dirt a few times, making Hilda warily turn back around.

“Enjoy your water, bud. Sorry, I don’t plan on sticking around.”

Hilda walked back to the stable across the way and quietly hummed to herself as she did so, happy to be done with this for the time being.

As she reached the stable, she noticed the rake Ingrid had asked her to grab on her way back was lying haphazardly in front of the door.

Hilda picked it up, questioningly, and pushed open the heavy set of doors to the stable.

“Hey, Ingrid, where did you want me to put the rake?”

Hearing no response, Hilda stepped into the stable and looked around. “Ingrid?” She repeated. 

There was no response other than a horse scuffing it’s hoof on the ground and the muffled flapping sounds of it’s ears as it shook it’s head. Hilda walked over to the horse and it neighed loudly, backing up and bucking at the back wall, sending a mixture of dirt and hay flying around it.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?” Hilda coughed and swatted at the air around her as the horse whinnied once more.

She stared at the restless animal for a moment, until it struck her that it seemed somewhat distressed.

She tilted her head and looked each way in the stable. “Ingrid, where’d you go? Hello?”

She could have sworn Ingrid had told her she was going to clean the horse’s stalls, but maybe she forgot something else in the shed? Slight concern gripped at Hilda’s heartstrings but she didn’t think much of it as she grasped the rake in her arms and made her way to the back set of doors.

_Whatever. I’ll just throw this by the shed and be done with this._

She sighed and began to make her way out the back stable doors. However, when she opened the far set of doors, the horse gave it’s loudest neigh yet and made Hilda cringe once again.

She shut the door behind her with a slam and began walking over to the shed. “Noisy things…” she mumbled to herself, brushing some dust out of her bangs.

Walking along the path to the shed by herself definitely felt more eerie now that she was by herself. It didn’t help that the sun began to dip below the tree line either.

Before she even reached the shed, she noticed it was unlocked and heard some shuffling coming from the inside. She breathed out a sigh of relief.

She shook her head and laughed at herself for getting so worked up.

The door was already slightly ajar, so she didn’t have to tug very hard to get it to open.

“I didn’t take you as the kind to wonder off, Ingrid. Did you really have to - “

Hilda made a slight gasp and felt the rake slide out of her limp grip, causing it to clatter against the floor.

A scene was laid out before her.

Not one she was ever expecting to see of course, but it was certainly a sight, nonetheless.

Ingrid’s limp body was propped up on the back of a set of counters, another girl gripped her shoulders, face buried in her neck. There was a wet lapping sound and the dimness of the shed made Hilda struggle to comprehend what she was looking at.

Hilda flushed and turned away, slightly. “Ah- um, sorry I-“

Before she was able to turn away completely, the girl – no – creature…? Instantly looked up at her with milky brown eyes. However, normal as they appeared, that notion was quickly cast aside by her irises being outlined by a sharp and glowing, blood-red crimson.

When she moved her head up Hilda feels her blood run cold and her muscles freeze up.

Ingrid’s body was laid flaccidly against the counter, blood covered her neck and dripped down the front of her collarbone as the other girl held her upright. 

The girl hovering over her looked just as surprised, albeit a bit dazed, to see Hilda standing at the storeroom door as Hilda was to be witnessing the scene in front of her.

“Y-You killed her...?” Hilda's voice wavered and she felt herself choke a bit. Her legs wobbled underneath her.

The girl quickly snapped out of her daze and shot to her feet, staring Hilda dead in the eye with a serious yet somewhat sullen gaze.

“You did not see anything.” The girl said, wiping off some blood dribbling down her chin with her sleeve.

Hilda stared at her and blinked. “What on earth are you talking about - is this a prank?”

The girl took a step forward, gaze faltering slightly, and looked her right in the eye once more. “You did not _see_ anything.” She repeated, watching Hilda carefully.

Hilda gulped and felt her legs turn to jelly underneath her. “A-Are you going to eat me or something?”

Realization of something dawned on the girl’s face and she quickly looked back and forth from Hilda to the unconscious girl on the floor, her demeanor changing in an instant.

“She- She is not dead!” The other girl’s voice was quiet, distressed, and somewhat panicked. “I-I can explain-! I didn’t think anyone else was here… I saw you in the library earlier- I thought-”

Hilda looked back to Ingrid on the floor and slapped a hand over her mouth as a gagging noise climbed up her throat. "Oh god- I-I'm gonna throw up." 

She stumbled back a bit unevenly, not too far off from how a drunk person probably looks attempting to catch their balance. She was caught so off-guard that the only reason she didn’t completely fall over is a due to the set of crates she stumbled into by the door.

However, it’s the same stack of crates that she had set the box of apples on earlier, and as she backed into it, the box lost its balance and crashed into the ground, sending the apples tumbling out into the shed.

One hit the girl’s boot and she took a step forward as though she hadn’t noticed it.

“Please do not scream! She is unharmed!” The girl blinked rapidly and fidgeted with her fingers as she darted her eyes around in panic. “I-I’m a vampire!”

“You don’t fucking _say?_ ” Hilda scoffed, incredulously, resisting the urge to hold her nose closed as a steely smell reached her nostrils. “And I’m the queen of fucking England. What kind of sick joke is this?”

“I assure you it is not a joke…”

Hilda eyed Ingrid’s unmoving body on the floor and looked between her and the girl standing beside her.

The blue haired girl quickly blinked in realization and took a few steps away from Ingrid’s form, holding her hands up slightly, as though she meant no harm. The blood that still stained the girl’s teeth and chin said otherwise, however.

Hilda, not giving herself even a moment to think about what she’s doing, walked past the girl and knelt by Ingrid’s lifeless form on the floor of the dusty old shed. “Is she…?”

Dread seeped into her consciousness as she notices the two red-stained piercings on the girl’s neck and her slumped over form on the ground. Her eyes were shut and the first two buttons of her uniform had been undone and shoved to the side, as if done so in a hurry.

It struck her momentarily that maybe the girl just has some weird fetish or something, but Hilda glanced back over at her incredibly sharp canines, stained with red ooze, and brown eyes that were still practically neon red around the rim. The sight made her shudder.

Slowly standing back up and realizing she had put herself in an awful position, essentially trapping herself in the shed, she senses her voice shaking as she spoke.

“A-Are you going to hurt me?” 

The blue haired girl flushed, frantically waving her hands out in front of her. “N-No! Or course not…!”

“Are you _sure?_ ”

“I-I can usually control myself better. There is never anyone out here, I just thought… I did not mean for this to happen.”

“You didn’t mean to _kill_ Ingrid?”

“I told you she is not dead!” She quickly retorted, attempting to wipe some more blood off her mouth with her sleeve.

Hilda glances once more at the blonde girl’s bloodied neck and shirt collar and felt herself hold back another gagging noise.

“She looks pretty damn dead to me.” Hilda grimaced and nudged her unmoving leg lightly with her boot.

“She is most likely in shock…”

“I think _I’m_ the one in shock here.” Hilda crossed her arms. “What the hell is actually going on? Explain, please?”

The blue haired girl bit her lip and looked down with an expression Hilda had a hard time reading. In the distance, Hilda heard the school’s bell begin to ring at the top of the hour.

Yellow-orangey light of the sun’s rays seeped into the room; such a warm tone for such a horrid situation, Hilda almost laughed at the irony.

“Goddess forgive me.” The girl feverishly started wiping the blood off her face and choked out a few sobs as she sinks to the floor.

“H-Hey… I’m the one who wants to cry here.” Hilda mumbled as she held her arm out limply, at a complete loss for what to do.

The other girl shook her head. “I-I should have controlled myself better. I was just so _hungry_. I - “ She began choking on her sobs once more and Hilda looked over at the girl weeping on the floor with wide eyes.

Hilda bent back down momentarily and held a hand to the untouched side of Ingrid’s neck. She felt a steady pulse and momentarily focused on her stomach to see that she is, in fact, breathing quiet regularly, although a bit shallower than what Hilda would assume is normal for someone.

She let out a breath of air she’d been holding in and sensed her legs finally giving out underneath her.

Falling back from her crouched position, she leaned against an old desk beside her, trying to focus on breathing in shaky breaths.

Hilda glanced back at the girl still hunched over herself and shaking on the other side of the shed. She didn’t feel any real threat from her, she seemed more like a handful than anything else.

Rubbing her temple and attempting to process the last few minutes in her head, it all felt jumbled up somehow. Not to mention Hilda was horrible with dealing with other people emotionally, especially crying girls.

“…What did you say you were again?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry… This is all my fault.”

Hilda sighed and thumbed a fallen apple on the ground with an irritated hand. “I don’t need your apologies. I need your answers.” Hilda tugged worriedly on the ends of one of her ponytails. “And, like, preferably as soon as possible, so I don’t call the police.”

“R-Right…” The other girl sniffled and held her legs to her chest, her long skirt crumpled up around her.

“You said you were a…?”

“Vampire… is probably the term you’re most familiar with.” She finished, quietly.

“Do you do… this sort of thing often?”

The girl violently shook her head and clenched her disheveled skirt in her hands. “No…! I-I just- I hadn’t eaten in so long. It was killing me. I wasn’t myself.”

“What’s your name? You’re in my marketing class, right?”

The girl’s tear-streaked face looked up, surprised. “Yes, how did you- I mean- Marianne. I-It’s Marianne. My name.”

Hilda nodded and scuffed her boot on the floor. “…I’m Hilda.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

Marianne only nodded and looked away.

Hilda noticed her eyes didn’t have that red ring around them anymore, leaving only the normal deep brown pupil.

After some silent debating in her head, she decided not to question anything more about what just happened, knowing it will only leave her more curious and, most likely, with more questions.

Hilda ran a hand through her hair and scrunched up her face. She knew in her subconscious that she should probably tell somebody, or at the very least contact the authorities.

However, Hilda Goneril was a schemer, born and raised.

Hilda never claimed to be a saint. In fact, most things she actually puts consideration into are pretty self-serving. She could easily see how this situation could give her an out to all of this stable business and with the current ruling being in her favor, she didn’t have anything to lose.

“Look, I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“…You’re not?”

“I mean, I can’t say the same for Ingrid but… It’s not like people would believe me if I told them anyways.”

Marianne made an unreadable expression. “…Ingrid will not remember.” She said, slowly.

“Huh, how- You know what, actually. I’m not gonna ask.”

Marianne seemed relieved, except Hilda held up a finger to gain her attention once more.

“I do, however, have a condition.”

“Y-Yes. Of course.”

Hilda studied her nails and hummed to herself for a moment. “So, like, you know the university’s academic officer, president Rhea, right? Green hair, acts all high and mighty about her position, I saw you in her office not too long ago.”

“Ah, yes…”

“Well, she kinda put me on stable duty for the rest of the semester and I _kinda_ need someone to cover it for me.”

“O-Oh…”

“Is it going to be a problem or something? Oh god, don’t tell me you’re allergic to horsehair too?”

“N-No nothing like that!” Marianne quickly shook her head. “I’m actually quite fond of horses… I’d be happy to do that for you.”

“Good. Then it’s settled.”

“That’s all?” Marianne asked, wide-eyed.

“I mean unless you got something else you want to do for me?”

“Well, no, but… you’re not scared of me? You seem to be taking this… quite well.” She inquired, carefully.

Hilda shrugged and twirled the bottom of her ponytail around a finger. “I mean how else am I supposed to react, _Oh, no! a big bad vampire is out in the shed! Get the pitchforks and torches!_ ”

She laughed to herself before realizing she probably sounded insane. She cut herself off, face-flushed, and gave a long sigh.

“Look, I think I’m in shock right now too honestly but… you don’t seem dangerous to me - and you agreed to my terms. As long as something like this doesn’t happen again, I’d say we’re square.”

“Yes but - “

“Do we have a deal?” Hilda held out her hand and smiled, sweetly.

Marianne reached out and took the hand cautiously, looking to Hilda across from her.

After a moment of saying nothing, Hilda tilted her head at Marianne, who flustered and timidly shook her hand up and down.

“…Deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> (Ah shit here we go again) 
> 
> Shout out to Beth and Lily for helping me proof read! 
> 
> Thanks for reading the first chapter! Let me know your thoughts if you got any and I will get the next chapter up asap!


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